Folks - Here's another GPS App to consider if you're in the US or Canada: MotionX GPS Drive. I've been evaluating it and am very impressed so far. The initial review on Applevis, posted last August, says this App was inaccessible at that time, but the version I'm testing, version 9.1 released on 10 February 2011, is very accessible and has the following two important features I think make it stand out at the moment:
1. The current version of this App gives automatically spoken turn-by-turn directions when walking, with no reaching in the pocket, tapping the screen, shaking the phone, or any other sort of interaction required. In my testing, whenever I reached an intersection, the App automatically said something like, "turn right on happy pleasant lane." The voice, BTW, is the "lovely" Acapella Heather. And when I intentionally walked past my turn, she said "recalculating route" and when I reached the next intersection she correctly stated, "now turn right on nasty dog wandering loose road." 2. Like Garmin's StreetPilot, this app uses Navteq cloud based maps, However, with MotionX you can pre-load maps when planning your route, something you cannot currently do with StreetPilot. You can select the amount of storage space to use, from 256 MB up to 2 GB, and there is an accessible meter telling how much storage you've used. There's also a button to clear the cached maps. When you choose to pre-load maps, there is an accessible progress indicator. Thus you can pre-load maps while wi-fi connected to help minimize cellular data usage and in addition you will still theoretically be receiving directions on your trip even if you've lost your cellular data connection. Also, when you choose to pre-load your maps you have a choice to listen to a simulation of your route. This is spoken just as if you were en route, including the time between turns, and while there is a setting to run the simulation at 8x, I've been unable to find a way to manually force the simulation to move to the next turn. The App does have it's share of issues. Here are a few of the ones I consider most important: 1. While most controls and labels are accessible and properly labeled, there are a few exceptions. Most buttons on the "Search" page are not labeled, but fortunately you can work around this by using the "Go To" page instead, which has well labeled buttons and, as far as I can tell, allows you to perform all of the same functions found in the Search page. 2. There are inconsistencies in the labeling and manipulation of some of the radio buttons, switch buttons, and check boxes. While I did not find any that couldn't easily be figured out, it takes a bit of patience. 3. The button in the top left corner of every screen is labeled "button ondemand up." If you double-tap it will either tell you to select a destination or tell you the current segment of your trip. 4. While VO is able to read almost everything on the "directions list" screen, VO is unable to read the part that tells you which way to turn. There is a little graphic of an arrow pointing left or right, but VO is not able to read them. 5. I'm not sure how good or bad the POI database is just yet. The default list of POI around my home address was severely lacking. However, when I searched for POI and entered my address manually, I got much better results. 6. While the main menu and many of the sub-menus are well laid out, there are some screens that seem jumbled and slightly confusing to navigate with VO. 7. There are some other minor glitches but overall I think this App is worth a look. I will be continuing to use this App and will add to my comments posted to the Applevis site. HTH, Bryan Interestingly, MotionX GPS Drive is currently the top Paid App in the Navigation section of the US App Store. I don't know if that means top rated or top selling, but that's how I stumbled on it. The pricing scheme is a bit different from others I've seen. The initial purchase price for the general IOS version is US 99 cents. There is also an iPad specific version called MotionX GPS Drive HD for US $2.99. The initial purchase price buys you the full app with visual navigation and a 30 day trial of what they call "live voice guidance" which means spoken turn-by-turn navigation. According to MotionX's literature, the way they make their money and pay for the navteq maps is by charging for the live voice guidance. After the 30 day trial runs out, you can purchase monthly for $2.99 or yearly for $19.99. On Feb 13, 2011, at 9:47 PM, Scott Granados wrote: > Wow, I like the idea of Garmin but not announcing turn by turn directions > when walking is a real limiter. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MacVisionaries" group. To post to this group, send email to macvisionaries@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to macvisionaries+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/macvisionaries?hl=en.
